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Project Riese The Secret Nazi Tunnels in Poland

Eighty
kilometers to the south of Wroclaw, underneath Poland’s oldest mountain
range, the Owl Mountains, lies a massive underground complex and tunnel
system built by the Nazis. The exact purpose of these tunnels is not
known, nor is its true size because the complex was never completed.
More than nine kilometers were excavated, but only a small section was
reinforced by steel and concrete before the Nazis were driven out of the
region by the arriving Red Army. Some say the tunnels were meant to
serve as the Führer’s headquarter, while others believe it was supposed
to be used as an underground weapons factory.
Photo credit: Przykuta/Wikimedia
Construction
of the tunnels began in 1943 in response to increased Allied bombing
over Nazi Germany. German sources suggest that they were supposed to be
turned into a huge underground shelter covering more than 35 square
kilometers, with one of Adolf Hitler’s Führer Headquarters at its
center. Furthermore, it was planned to be used as a refuge for the
leading members of the military as well as a safe place for certain
industrial facilities.
The Owl Mountains were chosen because of
its hard rock that would provide the underground complex extra
protection against Allied air raids. But it also made the progress of
digging tunnels was slow. Thousands of forced labor from camps across
the Soviet Union and Poland helped build the tunnel. They worked in
appalling conditions, exhausted and starving. Mortality was very high
because of disease, malnutrition, exhaustion, dangerous underground
works, and the treatment of prisoners by German guards. Some 5,000 slave
labors died in this project.
As of today, seven systems of
shelters and tunnels that make up Project Riese are known to exist in
the Owl Mountains. They are all of a similar design, corresponding to
the layout of other subterranean Führer Headquarters. Three of these
sites are run by private owners and can be visited by tourists. Only
when one enters the tunnels, the true scope of this unrealistic
construction project becomes obvious. Indeed, “Riese” means “giant”.
The car in this photograph should give you an idea of how massive some of the tunnels are. Photo credit: Przykuta/Wikimedia
Photo credit: Aneta Pawska/Wikimedia
Photo credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Poland
Photo credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Poland